Years of using your home’s chimney creates a need for regular maintenance and even repairs when the time comes. Unlike a lot of other features or appliances in your house, chimneys left unmaintained and unrepaired can be risky and also dangerous.
How can you know when your chimney needs a repair instead of just a simple cleaning? We’ve laid out some of the most common reasons for a chimney repair so that you’ll know when to reach out to a trusted masonry contractor to fix your issues and keep your home and your family safe.
Damage
It might seem like an obvious reason that would be easy to spot, but recognizing damage to your chimney is much more involved than looking for cracks in your masonry. With all of the different components that make up your full chimney system, it’s important to have a specialist take a look to ensure that you’re not facing any of the following problems.
Chimney Flue Damage
Your chimney’s flue liner can become damaged and in need of repair for a few reasons. It could be it’s just old, movement of the home, or due to the amount of time exposed to the elements. Any of those factors can easily lead to serious damage that should be remediated by a trusted, local masonry contractor.
Chimney Cap/Crown Damage
The protection that your chimney cap/crown provides is crucial to the performance of the chimney system. A damaged cap/crown could allow infiltration of water, debris, or small animals into the chimney/ fireplace. A properly installed cap should extend past the chimney a min of 2 inches to allow any water that hits the top of the chimney to run off and to help prevent deterioration of the brick and mortar.
Material Deterioration
While proper masonry can allow a chimney to last almost a century, there will always be a time that the lifespan of the mortar or brick will come to an end. Over time, the mortar that holds the bricks together will begin to deteriorate due to age and the elements. It’s important to replace the old, failing mortar and brick so that you can prevent moisture from seeping into your chimney and creating more issues. This process is what is commonly referred to as “tuck pointing”.
Individual brick replacement is also possible.
Have a Professional Take a Look
If you haven’t had your chimney maintained or inspected in recent years, we recommend getting an appointment scheduled with a local professional. There may also be some cases where you can see masonry damage with the untrained eye which also elicits a trained professional’s assistance.
The expert masonry and chimney repair experts at Semper Fi are here and ready to help. Give us a call at 262-439-0857 or fill out a form to get in touch with us for a free, no-obligation consultation. We’d love a chance to show you why we’re your area’s best local contractor.
